Loading promotion info...
My Son Calls My Best Friend Mom
Novelix
Completed
After five years in isolation overseas, Claire Reed finally develops a cure for her husband and young son’s inherited illness. She flies home early, dreaming of a reunion, only to overhear them plotting with her best friend to send her away again. Her son calls another woman “Mom.” Her husband laughs at her loyalty. Even her brother believes the lies. Humiliated, smeared online, and locked out of her own home, Claire signs a new assignment, sells the apartment, and vanishes. When regret catches up to them, she has already chosen herself—and some doors never open twice for those left behind.
Chapters (3)
第1章
To cure my husband and son's inherited illness, I went overseas and spent five straight years in closed-door research.
The day the project succeeded, I skipped the celebration entirely and booked an earlier flight home.
I wanted to surprise them.
But just as I reached the door of the restaurant's private room, I heard my son Noah's excited voice from inside.
"Dad, are you really going to make Mom keep going abroad? Then can I just keep living with Mia Mom all the time?"
"And the wedding—I want to be your flower boy!"
A second later, Ethan's voice followed.
"Of course. Once she's back, I'll tell her your condition has taken another turn for the worse. She has to stay overseas and keep doing research."
The private room burst into laughter.
My best friend Mia spoke up in a low voice.
"But what if Claire finds out about us?"
Ethan gave a soft laugh, his tone certain.
"So what if she does? She can't leave me, and she can't bear to leave Noah."
In that moment, standing outside the door, I suddenly smiled.
So this was it. The husband and son I'd nearly given my life to save had already built another family with my good friend.
I looked down at my phone.
On the screen was a new project transfer order, just sent from the research center.
This time, I didn't hesitate. I signed my name right there on the electronic document.
Since they wanted me gone so badly.
Then from now on, I really wouldn't come back.
The voices in the private room continued.
They were discussing how to trick me into going abroad for another five years.
"This plan will work," my brother Daniel spoke first. "Just say Noah's condition has flared up again and the research has to continue. Claire won't possibly refuse."
"Right." My childhood friend Ryan flipped through that forged medical record, his voice calm. "This part needs changing. She knows medicine—we can't let her spot a problem."
Ethan took the record and bent his head to revise it.
"Once she's gone, Mia and I will be solid."
Another round of laughter filled the room.
I stood outside the door, my whole body cold.
Daniel was my own brother.
Ryan was the boy who, when someone once pushed me, charged at them and beat them until they never dared come back to school.
They had both said they would always stand by my side.
Back then, Daniel told everyone he met, "Claire is the best girl in the world."
On the day Ethan and I married, Ryan's eyes went red as he warned him, "If you ever dare hurt Claire, I will never let you off."
But only a few years had passed.
Ethan and I had been married ten years. Noah was eight.
Everything had changed.
A second later, Mia spoke softly.
"Isn't this a bit too much? Claire's five years... after all, were for you and the child."
"Too much?" Ethan sneered. "That was her choice."
"Besides, Noah is her son. If she doesn't go, who will?"
Only then did I understand.
From the day Mia came back to the country, the scales in their hearts had already tipped.
Mia was my best friend.
From the time we met until now, I had told her almost everything.
When I went abroad five years ago, she cried harder than anyone.
She held me and said, "Claire, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Ethan for you. I won't let any woman near him."
I believed her.
And she truly did it.
Only, she had excluded herself from "any woman."
At that thought, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
第2章
The instant I pushed the door open, every sound in the private room stopped.
Everyone turned to look at me at once, the smiles still not yet wiped from their faces.
The most flustered was Ethan.
He shot to his feet, his expression changing completely.
"Claire? Why are you back early?"
I looked at him and pulled at the corner of my mouth.
"What, you didn't want to see me?"
"How could I?"
Ethan denied it almost immediately, striding quickly toward me and pulling me into his arms.
"You're back—I couldn't be happier."
If I hadn't just heard them scheming against me inside with my own ears, I probably would have believed it.
I lifted my head, past Ethan's shoulder, and looked at Noah sitting to the side.
"Noah." I opened my arms to him. "Mom's home."
But Noah just sat there without moving.
He only stared at me, his gaze so unfamiliar it was like he was looking at an enemy.
The atmosphere in the private room suddenly turned delicate.
Someone hurried to smooth things over.
"Noah, go on, aren't you the one who missed Mom most?"
Only under everyone's urging did Noah slowly walk up to me.
I crouched down, reached out and hugged him, and whispered in his ear:
"I heard what you said just now."
"Don't worry, Mom will make it happen for you."
The moment my words landed, Noah's body visibly stiffened.
A second later, just as I released him, he seemed to be struck by something, jerked back two steps, and looked at me with red eyes.
Ethan immediately sensed something wrong and hurried forward.
"Noah, what's the matter?"
Noah's lips trembled, and the tears came on cue.
"Dad..."
He choked out.
"Does Mom not like me?"
"She just told me I'm a sick child, that I'm a burden to her. She even said it would be better if I died..."
The moment those words landed, the private room exploded.
"Noah!"
Mia stood up first, her face full of heartache as she rushed over and pulled the child into her arms.
"Nonsense, how could Mom say that to you?"
But the look she turned on me had already pronounced me guilty.
"Claire, how could you do this?"
Her voice trembled.
"Noah is your own son. How could you despise him? He's suffered enough these years."
Noah threw himself into her arms, crying even harder.
Daniel's face went livid. He shot to his feet and in a few strides was in front of me.
"Claire Reed, are you even human?"
A slap landed hard across my face.
My head snapped to the side, ears ringing.
"He's your son!"
Daniel ground his teeth.
"You despise him for being sick? For dragging you down? How could I have a sister as vicious as you!"
Ryan stood up too, looking at me with eyes full of disappointment.
"Claire, you've really changed."
He said coldly.
"Noah is how old? How could you bear to hurt him like this?"
With that, he turned and went after Mia and Noah.
In an instant, everyone in the private room was blaming me.
Soon, only Ethan and I were left.
He stood before me, brows and eyes weary, as if utterly disappointed in me.
"Claire."
He spoke hoarsely.
"These five years, doing research abroad was hard, I know."
"But Noah and I weren't having it easy back home either."
"He suffers his illness every day, and still thinks of you every day, hoping you'll come back. And the moment you do, you say this and hurt him..."
As Ethan spoke, his eyes reddened too.
If I hadn't heard them with my own ears outside the door, plotting how to set the trap, even I would have believed it.
Just before I pushed the door open, Ryan had still been asking:
"Should we plant a landmine for her first?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, so she doesn't get suspicious."
And that idea had come from Mia.
She said, "Let Noah clash with her first. A child's words are the easiest to believe."
Seeing that I hadn't spoken at all, Ethan's expression grew darker and darker.
"Claire."
He stared at me, his tone disappointed and pained.
"If you really do despise us, father and son so much—"
"Then let's divorce."
With that, he turned and walked away.
The vast private room was, in a blink, just me.
I stood there, half my face burning.
Yet slowly, I smiled.
So this was the home I'd traded half my life for.
第3章
Since I'd already decided to leave, there was nothing here worth clinging to.
I took out my phone and dialed the real estate agent directly.
"That apartment under my name—list it as soon as possible."
"It's fine if the price is a bit lower. I want it fast."
With that, I hung up and prepared to go home to get the paperwork and documents.
But when I got to my front door, no matter how I entered the password, I couldn't get in.
The lock had been changed.
I called the police directly, then called a locksmith.
The two groups arrived almost at the same time.
The locksmith had just crouched down when the door opened from inside.
Ethan stood behind the door, his face gloomy.
"Claire, are you sick?"
"Why call the police?"
I looked at him, calm.
"My house, and I can't get in. If I don't call the police, should I stand at the door and beg you?"
Ethan was left speechless, his face uglier still. He turned and squeezed out a smile to explain to the police.
"It's a misunderstanding. It was too noisy in the house just now, I didn't hear the knocking."
Daniel was in the house too, his tone impatient.
"Claire, that's enough."
"You had to make a scene and call the police—don't you feel ashamed?"
I looked at him, my throat tight.
"Brother, this is my home."
"I came back to my own home, and had my password changed and was shut out."
The police glanced at us, their expressions turning a few degrees more serious, and finally demanded that Ethan change the password back on the spot.
I walked into the house and, at a glance, saw Noah playing with Mia in the living room.
Noah looked up, saw me, immediately gathered up his toys, and turned toward the bedroom.
Before closing the door, he threw out one line:
"I don't want to live with this woman."
Mia looked at me and gave a soft sigh.
"Claire, what you said at the restaurant today really was too hurtful."
I watched her quietly.
"What are you trying to say?"
Mia pursed her lips, as if greatly troubled.
"You know Noah's health can't take shocks. How about you go stay somewhere else for a few days?"
I looked at her and suddenly laughed.
"Sure."
"Since Noah doesn't want to see me, then you move out."
Mia's face stiffened.
"That's not what I meant..."
"Then what did you mean?"
I looked at her.
"Live in someone else's house long enough and you really start thinking it's yours?"
Her mouth opened, and for a long while she couldn't get a word out.
Ethan finally couldn't hold back, his voice full of suppressed anger.
"Claire, do you have to make everything sound so ugly?"
"Ugly?"
I looked at him.
"You brought her into my home, changed my door lock, and told me to get out. And now you think I talk ugly?"
Ethan's face went livid, staring hard at me.
"Then how do you want me to say it?"
"It's you who despises us, father and son, as a burden. Should we be grateful to you instead?"
"You think I don't despise you? Claire, go look in a mirror!"
My fingertips went rigid.
But as if he thought that wasn't enough, he sneered on.
"Your figure's gone, your skin's slack, you're lifeless from head to toe. Who'd want to look at that?"
The living room went instantly silent.
Even Mia was taken aback for a moment, then lowered her eyes and said nothing.
There was a roar in my ears, like something had exploded.
Figure gone, skin slack.
But he knew perfectly well.
When I was pregnant, I hemorrhaged badly, the C-section wound got infected, and afterward I cared for Noah day and night.
Night after night I couldn't sleep, my hormones went out of balance, I gained over ten pounds and couldn't lose it no matter what.
To save them, I'd been running nonstop between lab and hospital for five straight years, and almost all the money I earned went to treatment and research.
He knew all of this.
I stared at him, my eyes slowly heating, my voice light and trembling.
"Ethan, say that again."
"Did I say anything wrong?"
Ethan looked at me coldly.
"Mia is at least gentle and presentable, she knows how to take care of herself, not like you—"
"Enough!"
Daniel suddenly spoke up, as if he felt that had gone too far.
But Ethan was in the heat of anger and didn't stop at all.
"Even Noah won't get close to you. You think it's just because your temper's bad?"
"A woman who lives herself into this, and lives her marriage into this—who else is there to blame?"
I was shaking all over.
"Get out."
I cut him off, my voice not loud, but cold as ice.
"Take them and get out."
